Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, and
racing driver. One of the most popular and successful country and western singers of all time for most of his near four-decade career,[2][3][4] Robbins often topped the country music charts, and several of his songs also had crossover success as pop hits.

Contents

Biography

Robbins was born in
Glendale, a suburb of
Phoenix in
Maricopa County, Arizona. It's been claimed that his mother was mostly of
Paiute Indian heritage;[5] however, both his parents were listed as "white" in US censuses.[6] Robbins grew up in a difficult family situation. His father took odd jobs to support the family of 10 children, but his drinking led to divorce in 1937. Among his warmer memories of his childhood, Robbins recalled having listened to stories of the
American West told by his maternal grandfather, Texas Bob Heckle, who was a local medicine man.[7] At 17, Robbins left his troubled home to serve in the
United States Navy as an
LCTcoxswain during
World War II. He was stationed in the
Solomon Islands in the
Pacific Ocean. To pass the time during the war, he learned to play the guitar, started writing songs,[8] and came to love
Hawaiian music.

"Robbins was a symbol of the Nashville establishment that younger country fans abandoned in the Seventies for the bleached-denim '
outlaw school' of
Waylon Jennings and
Willie Nelson. Robbins belonged to the
Jim Reeves era and he wore his embroidered cowboy suits proudly. Best known for the western ballad, El Paso, his career also touched the rock 'n' roll side of country in songs like White Sports Coat And A Pink Carnation, and he kept a touch of the dude about him to the end."

Music and honors

Although by 1960 Robbins' output was largely country music, his initial hits like "Singing the Blues", "Knee Deep in the Blues", "The Story of My Life", "She Was Only Seventeen", and "
A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation" were generally regarded as more pop/teen idol material than his hits from 1960 onwards ("El Paso" etc.). His 1957 recording of "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation"[8] sold over one million copies, and was awarded a
gold record.[14]
His musical accomplishments include the
Grammy Award for his 1959 hit and signature song "
El Paso", taken from his album Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs. "El Paso" was his first song to hit No. 1 on the pop chart in the 1960s. It was followed up, successfully, by "
Don't Worry", which reached No. 3 on the pop chart in 1961, becoming his third, and last, Top 10 pop hit. "El Paso" was followed by one prequel and one sequel: "Faleena From El Paso" and "
El Paso City". Also in 1961, Robbins wrote the words and music and recorded "I Told the Brook,"[15] a ballad later recorded by
Billy Thorpe.

Robbins has been honored by many bands, including the
Grateful Dead who covered "El Paso" and
Bob Weir & Kingfish who covered "Big Iron".
The Who's 2006 album Endless Wire includes the song "God Speaks of Marty Robbins". The song's composer,
Pete Townshend, explained that the song is about God deciding to create the universe just so he can hear some music, "and most of all, one of his best creations, Marty Robbins."[18] The
Beasts of Bourbon released a song called "The Day Marty Robbins Died" on their 1984 debut album The Axeman's Jazz. Both
Frankie Laine and
Elvis Presley, among others, recorded versions of Robbins' song "
You Gave Me a Mountain", with Laine's recording reaching the pop and adult contemporary charts in 1969. Though Elvis never recorded any of Robbins' songs in the studio, he was a big fan and recorded "You Gave Me a Mountain" live in concert several times; it appeared on 15 Presley albums.
Johnny Cash recorded a version of "
Big Iron" as part of his American Recordings series, which is included in the Cash Unearthed box set. Cash also recorded other songs by Robbins, including "I Couldn't Keep From Crying", "Kate" and "Song Of The Patriot". He held Robbins in high esteem, having him guest several times on
his network TV show. "Big Iron" was also covered by
Mike Ness on his album Under the Influences, on which he paid homage to country music artists. The song, originally released on Robbins' 1959 album Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, gained renewed popularity following its use in the video game Fallout: New Vegas.

Robbins' cars were built and maintained by
Cotton Owens. They were painted two-toned magenta and chartreuse, usually carrying car number 42 (though 6, 22, and 777 were also used). Over the years, he ran a few makes and models (
Plymouths,
Dodges or
Fords) before buying a 1972-bodied
Dodge Charger from Owens. Robbins had 6 top-ten finishes as well as a few major wrecks during the 1970s, and he had Owens rebuild the car to update the sheet metal to the 1973–1974 Charger specifications, and then finally 1978
Dodge Magnum sheet metal, which he raced till the end of 1980. Robbins' final NASCAR race car was a 1981
Buick Regal that he rented and drove in a few races in 1981 and 1982.

In 1972, at the
Talladega 500, Robbins stunned the competition by turning laps that were 15 mph faster than his qualifying time. After the race, NASCAR tried to bestow the Rookie of the Race award, but he would not accept it. He had knocked the NASCAR-mandated restrictors out of his
carburetor and admitted he "just wanted to see what it was like to run up front for once."[19]

Robbins is credited with possibly saving
Richard Childress' life at the 1974 Charlotte 500 by deliberately crashing into a wall rather than t-bone Childress's car that was stopped across the track.[20]

Robbins' Dodge Magnum was restored by Owens and donated to the Talladega Museum by his family, and was displayed there from 1983 to 2008. The car is now in private hands in Southern California and raced on the Vintage NASCAR club circuit.

Discography

Robbins' discography consists of 52 studio albums, 13
compilation albums, and 100 singles. In his career, Robbins has charted 17 Number One singles on the BillboardHot Country Songs charts, as well as 82 Top 40 singles.

His final Top 10 single was "Honkytonk Man" from the 1982
eponymous film in which Robbins had a role. He died shortly before its release. Since his death, four
posthumous studio albums have been released, but they made no impact on the charts.